In what was supposed to be a simple XI layout showing the best players not at the Women’s World Cup — standard pre-tournament fare to whet the appetite for upcoming fun — the list of stars that had simply missed out on their place in the respective 23-player squads became much, much longer.
Some were younger names who could have used the tournament to springboard them into the public consciousness, only to be overlooked for those with more experience — starlets like midfielders Riola Xhemaili (Switzerland) and Olivia Holdt (Denmark) or striker Romee Leuchter (Netherlands). At the other end of the scale, more experienced players have been left behind by Costa Rica with, among others, midfielder Shirley Cruz and playmaker Lixy Rodriguez denied their chance of representing Las Ticas at another World Cup; centre-back and former Italy captain, Sara Gama, also feels like a player who has been squeezed out in favour of youth.
Then there are those who find themselves a victim of depth, as midfielder Narumi Miura can attest, the Japan midfield is a particularly hard one to break into with so much talent in the middle of the park for Nadeshiko. Similarly, defender Casey Krueger and midfielder Sam Coffey must be asking what more they can do to break into the U.S. squad after both showing strong form so far this season.
Then there is a separate list of Spanish players who remain outside of the national team after taking a stand for better conditions — many of these would have had a strong case for inclusion. Stars like defender Mapi Leon and midfielder Patri Guijarro, who are anchors for Champions League winners Barcelona, or more attacking options like Manchester United‘s Lucia Garcia and Real Sociedad‘s Amaiur Sarriegi.
My list is now over 60 names, but who were the “best” and should those who missed out because of injury take precedence over those who were simply cut or didn’t qualify? And how do you quantify the “best” — should it be those who make year-end lists highlighting excellence, or those players whose absences will hurt their team the most? Should it be players who are already known quantities; if so, wouldn’t that just be a list of players from England, France and the USA, three contenders who are collectively missing 11 starters?
This is undoubtedly not the standard article, but rest assured there will be a list at the foot of this piece that lists a number — more than 10, I fear — of players who will not be at the World Cup this summer and whose absence will take some of the sheen off the tournament. Some teams are more hamstrung by injuries than others, but below is a list of those who would have added more to the tournament had they been selected and/or fit enough to play.
Like England, the U.S. will be without their reliable and even-tempered captain, Becky Sauerbrunn, which means a less experienced centre-back partnership between Naomi Girma and Alana Cook will start. They’re good players, but it could potentially throw the defensive balance off. Worse still, the defending world champions are without three inspirational game-changing attackers in Swanson (patella tendon tear), Christen Press (ACL) and Catarina Macario (ACL) and although there is still a stunning amount of attacking depth available to coach Vlatko Andonovski, there is no question the trio will be missed.
Not injured but simply overlooked for the final 23, both Kruger and Coffey have been putting in some outstanding performances this season. Although Coffey, still just in her rookie season, could perhaps rationalize her omission by the return of Julie Ertz to the midfield, Kruger’s absence seems all the worse since Sauerbrunn was ruled out.
